EAS Advisers Give Master Session on Asian Regulations

Participants from the food and nutrition industry across Asia, Australia and New Zealand participated in a regulatory workshop session presented by international consultancy EAS last month.

The 90 minute session, which was presented at the Natural Products Asia show in Hong Kong on 27 August, covered the practical implications for companies of the many different regulations on health supplements in Asia. EAS Asia’s Regional Director Daniel Tsi and Regional Regulatory Affairs Manager Wai Mun Poon highlighted the impact of Codex Alimentarius on the Asian health supplement market; product classifications, regulatory requirements and rules for making claims when marketing health supplements.

“It is important that regulatory, scientific, marketing and senior management staff are clear on the different health supplement regulations,” said Dr Tsi. “The Codex recommendations on the scientific substantiation of health claims, for example, will be the reference point for developing regulatory requirements of claims substantiation in the ASEAN region. However, in the area of claims some countries have more restrictive existing regulations than others. The existing and future regulations must be taken into account in order to minimise risk of product failure.”

Another key topic was the regulatory landscape throughout the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the implications of its harmonisation procedure underway for health supplements.

“A major implication of the ASEAN harmonisation process is the greater market access it will allow across its ten Southeast Asian member countries and the establishment of common standards for product quality, safety and claims,” said Ms Poon. “Therefore it is essential to ensure that the company’s strategy is focused on addressing the emerging requirements with good scientific and technical support.”

In response to the evolving regulatory environment across Asia, EAS has released a unique and easy-to-follow guide to help companies build successful regulatory strategies to enter the region’s nutritional product market.

The guide, developed by experts at the EAS Asia office, covers national and regional rules for health supplements, fortified and functional foods. These include rules for adding vitamins and minerals to food and health supplements; for the use of herbs and other functional ingredients; and analyses of thecurrent labelling, claims and new ingredient regulatory environments, covers the health supplement regulatory harmonisation process within the ASEAN, and gives insight into the activities of international regulatory body Codex Alimentarius.

It’s national focus is on the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong SAR, Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, and Brunei.